Computer readable storage medium, game apparatus, game system, and game processing method

ABSTRACT

A main player operates a controller while viewing a monitor game image displayed on a monitor. A sub player operates a terminal device while viewing a terminal game image displayed on an LCD of the terminal device. A game image that is substantially identical to the monitor game image viewed by the main player is displayed on the LCD. By touching a touch panel provided on a screen of the LCD of the terminal device, the sub player can generate various events at a position in a game world corresponding to a touched position.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-115581, filed onMay 24, 2011, is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relates to acomputer-readable storage medium, a game apparatus, a game system, and agame processing method; and, in particular, relates to acomputer-readable storage medium, a game apparatus, a game system, and agame processing method enabling a plurality of players to play the samegame together.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

Conventionally, there are games in which, while a certain player (mainplayer) is playing the game through controlling of a player character,another player (sub player) can assist the main player.

In the conventional games, the main player and the sub player each hadto conduct operations (for the main player, controlling a playercharacter; and for the sub player, operation to assist the main player)while watching the same screen.

A feature of certain exemplary embodiments is to provide a newcomputer-readable storage medium, game apparatus, game system, and gameprocessing method enabling a plurality of players to play the same gametogether.

The above described feature is achieved, for example, by theconfigurations described in the following.

A first configurational example is a computer-readable storage mediumhaving stored thereon a game program executed by a computer of a gameapparatus for conducting a game process in accordance with an input froma portable display device including a touch panel and an input from atleast one input device. The game program causes the computer to functionas a first input reception section, a second input reception section, agame processing section, an image generation section, a first displaycontrol section, and a second display control section.

The first input reception section is configured to receive an input fromthe touch panel. The second input reception section is configured toreceive an input from the at least one input device. The game processingsection is configured to conduct a predetermined game process based onan input received by the first input reception section from the touchpanel and an input received by the second input reception section fromthe at least one input device. The image generation section isconfigured to generate a first game image and a second game image of anidentical game world in accordance with a game process result obtainedby the game processing section. The first display control section isconfigured to output the first game image generated by the imagegeneration section to the portable display device. The second displaycontrol section is configured to output the second game image generatedby the image generation section to a display device that is differentfrom the portable display device. Furthermore, the game processingsection generates a predetermined event at a position in the game worldcorresponding to a position on the second game image instructed throughthe touch panel.

The predetermined event may include an event that assists progress ofthe game conducted based on an input from the at least one input device.

Furthermore, the predetermined event may include an event that obstructsprogress of the game conducted based on an input from the at least oneinput device.

Furthermore, the game processing section may move a predetermined objectwithin the game world based on an input from the at least one inputdevice.

Furthermore, the game world may be absent of any objects that are movedbased on an input from the portable display device.

Furthermore, the game progressed by the game process may be a game whoseobjective is achievable without an input from the portable displaydevice.

Furthermore, an input from the at least one input device may have directinfluence on an outcome of the game progressed by the game process, andan input from the portable display device may lack any direct influenceon the outcome of the game progressed by the game process.

Furthermore, the first game image and the second game image may besubstantially identical game images.

Furthermore, display modes of a specific object in the game world may bedifferent in the first game image and the second game image.

Furthermore, a display mode of the specific object in the first gameimage may be a display mode that is more advantageous for a player thana display mode of the specific object in the second game image.

Furthermore, the first game image and the second game image may be gameimages showing an identical range of the identical game world.

Furthermore, the first game image and the second game image may be gameimages of the game world from an identical direction.

Furthermore, the image generation section may generate the second gameimage so as to scroll in accordance with scrolling of the first gameimage.

Furthermore, the first display control section may output the first gameimage to the portable display device through wireless transmission.

Furthermore, the first display control section may compress and outputthe first game image to the portable display device.

Furthermore, an input section that is different from the touch panel maybe provided on the portable display device. Furthermore, in addition toan input from the touch panel, the first input reception section mayreceive an input also from the input section.

Furthermore, the game program may cause the computer to further functionas a displacement amount determination section configured to determinean amount of displacement based on a signal from the portable displaydevice. Furthermore, the image generation section may change, inaccordance with the amount of displacement determined by thedisplacement amount determination section, a relative position of arange of the game world displayed in the first game image with respectto a range of the game world displayed in the second game image.

Furthermore, the displacement amount determination section may detect amovement of the portable display device based on a signal from theportable display device, and may determine the amount of displacement inaccordance with the movement of the portable display device.

A second configurational example is a game apparatus for conducting agame process in accordance with an input from a portable display deviceincluding a touch panel and an input from at least one input device. Thegame apparatus includes a first input reception section, a second inputreception section, a game processing section, an image generationsection, a first display control section, and a second display controlsection.

A third configurational example is a game system for conducting a gameprocess in accordance with an input from a portable display deviceincluding a touch panel and an input from at least one input device. Thegame system includes a first input reception section, a second inputreception section, a game processing section, an image generationsection, a first display control section, and a second display controlsection.

A fourth configurational example is a game processing method forconducting a game process in accordance with an input from a portabledisplay device including a touch panel and an input from at least oneinput device.

The method includes: receiving an input from the touch panel; receivingan input from the at least one input device; conducting a predeterminedgame process based on the input received from the touch panel and theinput received from the at least one input device; generating a firstgame image and a second game image of an identical game world inaccordance with a game process result; outputting, to the portabledisplay device, the generated first game image; and outputting, to adisplay device that is different from the portable display device, thegenerated second game image, wherein in the game process, apredetermined event is generated at a position in the game worldcorresponding to a position on the second game image instructed throughthe touch panel.

With the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, a new computer-readablestorage medium, game apparatus, game system, and game processing methodenabling a plurality of players to play the same game together can beprovided.

These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of theexemplary embodiments disclosed herein will become more apparent fromthe following detailed description of the certain exemplary embodimentswhen taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a non-limiting example of a gamesystem 1 according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a non-limiting example of agame apparatus body 5 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a non-limiting example of the external configuration of aterminal device 6 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a non-limiting example of a manner in which a user holdsthe terminal device 6;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a non-limiting example of the internalconfiguration of the terminal device 6 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 shows a game world;

FIG. 7 shows a non-limiting example of a monitor game image displayed ona monitor 2;

FIG. 8 shows a non-limiting example of a terminal game image displayedon an LCD 61;

FIG. 9 shows a non-limiting example of the terminal game image displayedon the LCD 61;

FIG. 10 shows a non-limiting example of the monitor game image displayedon the monitor 2;

FIG. 11 shows a non-limiting example of the monitor game image displayedon the monitor 2;

FIG. 12 shows a non-limiting example of the monitor game image displayedon the monitor 2;

FIG. 13 shows a non-limiting example of the terminal game imagedisplayed on the LCD 61;

FIG. 14 shows a non-limiting example of the monitor game image displayedon the monitor 2;

FIG. 15 shows a non-limiting example of the terminal game imagedisplayed on the LCD 61;

FIG. 16 shows a non-limiting example of a relative position of a displayrange of a game world displayed in the terminal game image with respectto a display range of the game world displayed in the monitor gameimage;

FIG. 17 shows a non-limiting example of the monitor game image displayedon the monitor 2;

FIG. 18 shows a non-limiting example of the terminal game imagedisplayed on the LCD 61;

FIG. 19 is a non-limiting example of a memory map of an external mainmemory 12;

FIG. 20 is a non-limiting example of a flowchart showing a flow of agame process based on a game program D1;

FIG. 21 is a non-limiting example of a flowchart showing a flow of anevent generating process;

FIG. 22 is a non-limiting example of a flowchart showing a flow of adisplay range update process; and

FIG. 23 shows a non-limiting example of the terminal game imagedisplayed on the LCD 61.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF NON-LIMITING EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

A game system according to one embodiment will be described withreference to FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, a game system 1 includes a household televisionreceiver (hereinafter, referred to as a monitor) 2 which is an exampleof display means, and a stationary game apparatus 3 connected to themonitor 2 via a connection cord. The monitor 2 includes loudspeakers 2a. Furthermore, the game apparatus 3 includes an optical disc 4, a gameapparatus body 5, a terminal device 6, and controllers 7 a, 7 b, 7 c,and 7 d (hereinafter, described simply as a controller 7 when there isno particular need to distinguish these as the controllers 7 a, 7 b, 7c, and 7 d).

The optical disc 4 has stored therein an information processing program(typically, a game program) to be executed by the game apparatus body 5.

The monitor 2 displays a game image outputted from the game apparatusbody 5. The monitor 2 includes the loudspeakers 2 a, and each of theloudspeakers 2 a outputs a game sound outputted from the game apparatusbody 5.

The game apparatus body 5 executes a game process or the like based on agame program stored in the optical disc 4.

A plurality of operation sections (operation buttons) are provided onthe controller 7. The controller 7 transmits, to the game apparatus body5, operation data (controller operation data) representing input states(whether or not each of the operation buttons has been held down) of theoperation sections by using, for example, Bluetooth (registeredtrademark) technology.

Furthermore, the controller 7 includes an imaging section for takingimages of a marker 8 having two LED modules (hereinafter, referred to as“markers”) 8L and 8R disposed in the vicinity (in the upper side of thescreen in FIG. 1) of the display screen of the monitor 2, and an imaginginformation calculation section for calculating positions of the markerswithin an image taken by the imaging section. The positions of themarkers calculated by the imaging information calculation section aretransmitted to the game apparatus body 5 as marker coordinate data. Inthe game apparatus body 5, the movement, position, attitude, and thelike can be calculated by the controller 7 based on the markercoordinate data.

Furthermore, the controller 7 is provided with an acceleration sensorand a gyro sensor. Acceleration data representing acceleration detectedby the acceleration sensor and angular velocity data representingangular velocity detected by the gyro sensor are transmitted to the gameapparatus body 5. In the game apparatus body 5, directions, movements,and behaviors of the controller 7 can be calculated based on theacceleration data and/or the angular velocity data.

The terminal device 6 is a portable device that is small enough to beheld by a user, and the user is allowed to move the terminal device 6with hands, or place the terminal device 6 at any location. Although thespecific structure of the terminal device 6 will be described later, theterminal device 6 includes an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 61 as displaymeans, and input means (a touch panel 62, a gyro sensor 604, and thelike described later). The terminal device 6 and the game apparatus body5 are communicable with each other wirelessly or via a cable. Theterminal device 6 receives, from the game apparatus body 5, data of animage (e.g., a game image) generated in the game apparatus body 5, anddisplays the image represented by the data on an LCD 61. Although in theexemplary embodiment, an LCD is used as a display device, the terminaldevice 6 may include any other display device, such as a display deviceutilizing EL (Electro Luminescence), for example. Further, the terminaldevice 6 transmits, to the game apparatus body 5, operation datarepresenting the content of an operation performed on the terminaldevice 6.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, an internal structure of the gameapparatus body 5 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagramillustrating an example of an internal structure of the game apparatusbody 5. The game apparatus body 5 includes a CPU (Central ProcessingUnit) 10, a system LSI (Large Scale Integration) 11, an external mainmemory 12, a ROM/RTC (Read Only Memory/Real Time Clock) 13, a disc drive14, an AV-IC (Audio Video-Integrated Circuit) 15 and the like.

In addition to the CPU 10, the external main memory 12, the ROM/RTC 13,the disc drive 14, and the AV-IC 15 are connected to the system LSI 11.The external main memory 12, which is a volatile memory, is used as awork region and a buffer region for the CPU 10. The ROM/RTC 13 includesa ROM (so-called boot ROM) incorporating a program for booting the gameapparatus body 5, and a clock circuit (RTC) for counting time. The discdrive 14 reads, from the optical disc 4, program data, texture data andthe like, and writes the read data into an internal main memory 35described below or the external main memory 12.

The system LSI 11 includes an input/output processor (I/O processor) 31,a GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) 32, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 33,a VRAM (Video RAM) 34, and the internal main memory 35.

The GPU 32 generates an image in accordance with a graphics command(draw command) supplied from the CPU 10. In the exemplary embodiment,the game apparatus body 5 may generate both a game image to be displayedon the monitor 2 and a game image to be displayed on the terminal device6. Hereinafter, the game image to be displayed on the monitor 2 may bereferred to as a “monitor game image,” and the game image to bedisplayed on the terminal device 6 may be referred to as a “terminalgame image.”

The DSP 33, serving as an audio processor, generates sound data by usingsound data and sound waveform (tone quality) data stored in the internalmain memory 35 and the external main memory 12. In the exemplaryembodiment, similarly to the game images, both a game sound to beoutputted from the loudspeakers 2 a of the monitor 2 and a game sound tobe outputted from the loudspeakers of the terminal device 6 may begenerated. Hereinafter, the game sound to be outputted from the monitor2 may be referred to as a “monitor game sound,” and the game sound to beoutputted from the terminal device 6 may be referred to as a “terminalgame sound.”

Among the image data and sound data generated by the game apparatus body5, the image data and sound data to be outputted to the monitor 2 areread by the AV-IC 15. Through an AV connector 16, the AV-IC 15 outputsthe read image data to the monitor 2 and outputs the read sound data tothe loudspeakers 2 a included in the monitor 2. Thereby, an image isdisplayed on the monitor 2, and sounds are outputted from theloudspeakers 2 a.

Further, among the image data and sound data generated by the gameapparatus body 5, the image data and sound data to be outputted to theterminal device 6 are transmitted to the terminal device 6 by the I/Oprocessor 31 or the like. Data transmission to the terminal device 6 bythe I/O processor 31 or the like will be described later.

The I/O processor 31 executes data reception and transmission with thecomponents connected thereto, and download of data from an externalapparatus. The I/O processor 31 is connected to a flash memory 17, anetwork communication module 18, a controller communication module 19,an extension connector 20, a memory card connector 21, and a codec LSI27. The codec LSI 27 is connected to a terminal communication module 28.

The game apparatus body 5 is connected to a network such as the Internetso as to communicate with external information processing apparatuses(for example, other game apparatuses or various servers). That is, theI/O processor 31 is connected to a network via the network communicationmodule 18 and the antenna 22 so as to communicate with externalinformation processing apparatuses connected to the network. The flashmemory 17 may store not only the data transmitted and received betweenthe game apparatus body 5 and the external information processingapparatuses, but also saved data (result data or progress data of theprocess) of the game played with the game apparatus body 5. Further, theflash memory 17 may store programs such as a game program.

The game apparatus body 5 can receive operation data from the controller7. That is, the I/O processor 31 receives, via the antenna 23 and thecontroller communication module 19, operation data or the liketransmitted from the controller 7, and stores (temporarily) the data ina buffer region of the internal main memory 35 or the external mainmemory 12.

The game apparatus body 5 is capable of transmitting/receiving imagedata, sound data and the like to/from the terminal device 6. The I/Oprocessor 31 outputs data of a game image (terminal game image)generated by the GPU 32 to the codec LSI 27. The codec LSI 27 performs apredetermined compression process on the image data supplied from theI/O processor 31. The terminal communication module 28 performs wirelesscommunication with the terminal device 6. Accordingly, the image datacompressed by the codec LSI 27 is transmitted by the terminalcommunication module 28 to the terminal device 6 via an antenna 29.

In the exemplary embodiment, the codec LSI 27 compresses the image databy using a highly efficient compression technique, for example, theH.264 standard. The codec LSI 27 may adopt other compression techniques.When the communication rate is sufficiently high, uncompressed imagedata may be transmitted. The terminal communication module 28 is, forexample, a Wi-Fi certified communication module. The terminalcommunication module 28 may perform wireless communication with theterminal device 6 at a high speed by using, for example, the techniqueof MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) adopted in the IEEE802.11nstandard, or may use other communication techniques.

The game apparatus body 5 transmits, to the terminal device 6, sounddata as well as the image data. That is, the I/O processor 31 outputssound data (terminal game sound) generated by the DSP 33 to the terminalcommunication module 28 via the codec LSI 27. The codec LSI 27 performsa compression process on the sound data in a manner similar to that forthe image data. Any compression technique may be adopted for the sounddata. In another embodiment, uncompressed sound data may be transmitted.The terminal communication module 28 transmits the compressed image dataand sound data to the terminal device 6 via the antenna 29.

The game apparatus body 5 transmits, in addition to the image data andsound data, various control data to the terminal device 6, according toneed. The control data represent control instructions for the componentsincluded in the terminal device 6, such as an instruction to controlon/off of a marker section (a marker section 65 shown in FIG. 5), and aninstruction to control image taking of a camera (a camera 66 shown inFIG. 5). The I/O processor 31 transmits the control data to the terminaldevice 6 in response to an instruction from the CPU 10.

The game apparatus body 5 can receive various data from the terminaldevice 6. Although details will be described later, in the exemplaryembodiment, the terminal device 6 transmits operation data, image data,and sound data. The respective data transmitted from the terminal device6 are received by the terminal communication module 28 via the antenna29. The image data and sound data transmitted from the terminal device 6have been subjected to a compression process similar to that for theimage data and sound data transmitted from the game apparatus body 5 tothe terminal device 6. Accordingly, these image data and sound data aretransmitted from the terminal communication module 28 to the codec LSI27, and subjected to a decompression process by the codec LSI 27. Thedecompressed data are outputted to the I/O processor 31. The operationdata, which has been received by the terminal communication module 28,is outputted to the I/O processor 31 via the codec LSI 27. The I/Oprocessor 31 stores (temporarily) the data received from the terminaldevice 6 in the buffer region of the internal main memory 35 or theexternal main memory 12.

The game apparatus body 5 is connectable to other devices and externalstorage media via the extension connector 20 and the memory cardconnector 21.

The game apparatus body 5 includes (on the front main surface thereof,for example) a power button 24, a reset button 25, an insertion slotthrough which the optical disc 4 is inserted, an eject button 26 forejecting the optical disc 4 from the insertion slot of the gameapparatus body 5, and the like.

In another embodiment, some of the components of the game apparatus body5 may be constituted as an extension device separated from the gameapparatus body 5. At this time, the extension device may be connected tothe game apparatus body 5 via the extension connector 20, for example.Specifically, the extension device may include, for example, the codecLSI 27, the terminal communication module 28, and the antenna 29, andmay be detachably connected to the extension connector 20. Thus, byconnecting the extension device to the game apparatus body which doesnot have the above-mentioned, the game apparatus body can be madecommunicable with the terminal device 6.

Next, a structure of the terminal device 6 will be described withreference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating anexample of an external structure of the terminal device 6. Morespecifically, (a) of FIG. 3 is a front view, (b) of FIG. 3 is a topview, (c) of FIG. 3 is a right side view, and (d) of FIG. 3 is a bottomview of the terminal device 6. FIG. 4 shows an example of a state inwhich a user holds the terminal device 6 with both hands.

As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 6 includes a housing 60 whichgenerally has a horizontally long plate-like rectangular shape. Thehousing 60 is small enough to be held by the user.

The terminal device 6 includes the LCD 61 on a front surface of thehousing 60. The LCD 61 is provided near the center of the front surfaceof the housing 60. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the user, holding thehousing 60 at portions to the right and left of the LCD 61, is allowedto move the terminal device 6 while viewing a screen of the LCD 61.

As shown in (a) of FIG. 3, the terminal device 6 includes, as operationmeans, a touch panel 62 on the screen of the LCD 61. In the exemplaryembodiment, the touch panel 62 is, but is not limited to, a resistivefilm type touch panel, and a touch panel of any type, such aselectrostatic capacitance type, may be used. The touch panel 62 may beof single touch type or multiple touch type. In the exemplaryembodiment, the touch panel 62 has the same resolution (detectionaccuracy) as that of the LCD 61. However, the resolution of the touchpanel 62 and the resolution of the LCD 61 need not be the same. Sincethe terminal device 6 has the touch panel 62, the user is allowed tooperate the touch panel 62 while moving the terminal device 6. That is,the user is allowed to directly (by using the touch panel 62) perform aninput onto the screen of the LCD 61 while moving the LCD 61.

As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 6 has, as operation means, twoanalog sticks 63A and 63B, and a plurality of operation buttons 64A to64L. The analog sticks 63A and 63B are each a device for designating adirection. The analog sticks 63A and 63B are each configured such that astick part thereof to be operated by a finger of the user is slidable ortiltable in any direction (at any angle in any direction such as theupward, the downward, the rightward, the leftward, or the diagonaldirection) with respect to the front surface of the housing 60.

The respective operation buttons 64A to 64L are assigned functions,according to need, in accordance with a game program. For example, thecross button 64A may be used for direction designation operation,selection operation, and the like; and the operation buttons 64E to 64Hmay be used for determination operation, cancellation operation, and thelike.

As shown in (a) of FIG. 3, the terminal device 6 includes a markersection (the marker section 65 shown in FIG. 5) including a marker 65Aand a marker 65B, on the front surface of the housing 60. The markers65A and 65B are each constituted by one or more infrared LEDs. Themarker section 65 is used, like the marker 8, for causing the gameapparatus body 5 to calculate a movement or the like of the controller 7with respect to the marker section 65. The game apparatus body 5 iscapable of controlling the infrared LEDs of the marker section 65 to beturned on or off.

The terminal device 6 includes the camera 66. The camera 66 is disposedon the surface of the housing 60. Accordingly, the camera 66 is capableof taking an image of the face of the user holding the terminal device6. For example, the camera 66 can take an image of the user who isplaying a game while viewing the LCD 61.

The terminal device 6 has a microphone (a microphone 609 shown in FIG.5) as sound input means. The microphone 609 is embedded in the housing60 at a position inside the microphone hole 60 b. The microphone 609detects for a sound, such as user's voice, around the terminal device 6.

The terminal device 6 has loudspeakers (loudspeakers 607 shown in FIG.5). Sound from the loudspeakers 607 is outputted from loudspeaker holes60 a provided on the lower side surface of the housing 60.

The terminal device 6 includes an extension connector 67 for connectingother devices to the terminal device 6.

In the terminal device 6 shown in FIG. 3, the shapes of the operationbuttons and the housing 60, the number of the respective components, andthe positions in which the components are provided are merely examples.The shapes, numbers, and positions may be different from those describedabove.

Next, an internal structure of the terminal device 6 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 5. FIG, 5 is a block diagram illustrating anexample of an internal structure of the terminal device 6. As shown inFIG. 5, the terminal device 6 includes, in addition to the componentsshown in FIG. 3, a touch panel controller 601, a magnetic sensor 602, anacceleration sensor 603, the gyro sensor 604, a user interfacecontroller (UI controller) 605, a codec LSI 606, loudspeakers 607, asound IC 608, a microphone 609, a wireless module 610, an antenna 611,an infrared communication module 612, a flash memory 613, a power supplyIC 614, a battery 615, and a vibrator 619. These electronic componentsare mounted on an electronic circuit board and accommodated in thehousing 60.

The UI controller 605 is a circuit for controlling data input to variousinput/output sections and data output from various input/outputsections. The UI controller 605 is connected to the touch panelcontroller 601, an analog stick 63 (the analog sticks 63A and 63B), theoperation button 64 (the operation buttons 64A to 64L), the markersection 65, the magnetic sensor 602, the acceleration sensor 603, thegyro sensor 604, and the vibrator 619. Further, the UI controller 605 isconnected to the codec LSI 606 and the extension connector 67. The powersupply IC 614 is connected to the UI controller 605, so that power issupplied to the respective components through the UI controller 605. Theinternal battery 615 is connected to the power supply IC 614, so thatpower is supplied from the battery 615. Further, a battery charger 616or a cable, which is supplied with power from an external power supply,may be connected to the power supply IC 614 via a connector or the like.In this case, the terminal device 6 can be supplied with power andcharged from the external power supply by using the battery charger 616or the cable.

The touch panel controller 601 is a circuit which is connected to thetouch panel 62 and controls the touch panel 62. The touch panelcontroller 601 generates a predetermined form of touch position data,based on a signal from the touch panel 62, and outputs the touchposition data to the UI controller 605. The touch position datarepresents coordinates of a position at which an input is performed onan input surface of the touch panel 62. The touch panel controller 601reads a signal from the touch panel 62 and generates touch position dataevery predetermined period of time. Further, various controlinstructions are outputted from the UI controller 605 to the touch panelcontroller 601.

The analog stick 63 outputs, to the UI controller 605, stick datarepresenting an amount and direction of the sliding (or tilting) of thestick part. The operation button 64 outputs, to the UI controller 605,operation button data representing an input status of each of theoperation buttons 64A to 64L (whether or not the operation button ispressed).

The magnetic sensor 602 detects the magnitude and direction of amagnetic field to detect an orientation. Orientation data representingthe detected orientation is outputted to the UI controller 605. The UIcontroller 605 outputs, to the magnetic sensor 602, a controlinstruction for the magnetic sensor 602. Examples of the magnetic sensor602 include: an MI (Magnetic Impedance) sensor, a fluxgate sensor, aHall sensor, a GMR (Giant Magneto Resistance) sensor, a TMR (TunnelingMagneto Resistance) sensor, and an AMR (Anisotropic Magneto Resistance)sensor. However, any sensor may be adopted as long as the sensor candetect an orientation.

The acceleration sensor 603 is provided inside the housing 60. Theacceleration sensor 603 detects the magnitudes of linear accelerationsin all three axial directions (xyz axial directions shown in (a) of FIG.3). Acceleration data representing the detected accelerations isoutputted to the UI controller 605. The UI controller 605 outputs, tothe acceleration sensor 603, a control instruction for the accelerationsensor 603.

The gyro sensor 604 is provided inside the housing 60. The gyro sensor604 detects the angular velocities around all the three axes (theabove-described xyz axes). Angular velocity data representing thedetected angular velocities is outputted to the UI controller 605. TheUI controller 605 outputs, to the gyro sensor 604, a control instructionfor the gyro sensor 604.

The vibrator 619 is, for example, a vibration motor or a solenoid, andthe terminal device 6 is vibrated by actuating the vibrator 619 inaccordance with a control instruction outputted from the UI controller605 to the vibrator 619.

The UI controller 605 outputs, to the codec LSI 606, the operation data(hereinafter, referred to as terminal operation data) including thetouch position data, the stick data, the operation button data, theorientation data, the acceleration data and the angular velocity data,which have been received from the respective components.

The codec LSI 606 is a circuit for performing a compression process ondata to be transmitted to the game apparatus body 5, and a decompressionprocess on data transmitted from the game apparatus body 5. The LCD 61,the camera 66, the sound IC 608, the wireless module 610, the flashmemory 613, and the infrared communication module 612 are connected tothe codec LSI 606. The codec LSI 606 includes a CPU 617 and an internalmemory 618. Although the terminal device 6 is configured not to performa game process, the terminal device 6 may execute a program for managingthe terminal device 6 or a program for communication. For example, aprogram stored in the flash memory 613 is loaded into the internalmemory 618 and executed by the CPU 617 when the terminal device 6 ispowered on, thereby starting up the terminal device 6. A part of thearea of the internal memory 618 is used as a VRAM for the LCD 61.

The camera 66 takes an image in accordance with an instruction from thegame apparatus body 5, and outputs data of the taken image to the codecLSI 606. The codec LSI 606 outputs, to the camera 66, a controlinstruction for the camera 66, such as an instruction to take an image.The camera 66 is also capable of taking a moving picture. That is, thecamera 66 is capable of repeatedly performing image taking, andrepeatedly outputting image data to the codec LSI 606.

The sound IC 608 is a circuit for controlling input of sound data to themicrophone 609 and output of sound data from the loudspeakers 607.

The codec LSI 606 transmits the image data from the camera 66, the sounddata from the microphone 609, and the terminal operation data from theUI controller 605 to the game apparatus body 5 via the wireless module610. In the exemplary embodiment, the codec LSI 606 subjects the imagedata and the sound data to a compression process similar to thatperformed by the codec LSI 27. The compressed image data and sound data,and the terminal operation data are outputted to the wireless module 610as transmission data. The antenna 611 is connected to the wirelessmodule 610, and the wireless module 610 transmits the transmission datato the game apparatus body 5 through the antenna 611. The wirelessmodule 610 has the same function as the terminal communication module 28of the game apparatus body 5. That is, the wireless module 610 has afunction of connecting to a wireless LAN by a method based on, forexample, the IEEE802.11n standard.

As described above, the transmission data transmitted from the terminaldevice 6 to the game apparatus body 5 includes the terminal operationdata, the image data, and the sound data. If another device is connectedto the terminal device 6 through the extension connector 67, datareceived from the other device may be included in the transmission data.The infrared communication module 612 performs, with another device,infrared communication based on, for example, the IRDA standard. Thecodec LSI 606 may include, in the transmission data, data received bythe infrared communication, and transmit the transmission data to thegame apparatus body 5, according to need.

As described above, the compressed image data and sound data aretransmitted from the game apparatus body 5 to the terminal device 6.These data are received by the codec LSI 606 through the antenna 611 andthe wireless module 610. The codec LSI 606 decompresses the receivedimage data and sound data. The decompressed image data is outputted tothe LCD 61, and an image according to the image data is displayed on theLCD 61. On the other hand, the decompressed sound data is outputted tothe sound IC 608, and a sound based on the sound data is outputted fromthe loudspeakers 607.

When control data is included in the data received from the gameapparatus body 5, the codec LSI 606 and the UI controller 605 providecontrol instructions for the respective components, according to thecontrol data. As described above, the control data represents controlinstructions for the respective components (in the exemplary embodiment,the camera 66, the touch panel controller 601, the marker section 65,the sensors 602 to 604, the vibrator 619, and the infrared communicationmodule 612) included in the terminal device 6. In the exemplaryembodiment, the control instructions represented by the control data areconsidered to be instructions to start and halt (stop) the operations ofthe above-mentioned components. That is, some components which are notused for a game may be halted to reduce power consumption. In this case,data from the halted components are not included in the transmissiondata transmitted from the terminal device 6 to the game apparatus body5.

Next, one example of a game executed the game system of the exemplaryembodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6 to FIG. 18.

An objective of this game for a player is to operate the controller 7and to control a player character to reach a goal point in a game world(a two dimensional virtual space) as shown in FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 6, for example, a player character P1, an enemycharacter E1, a normal block NB, an item block IB, and the like exist inthe game world.

The player character P1 is a character that is to be controlled by theplayer. The enemy character E1 is controlled by a computer based on apredetermined algorithm.

A normal block NB can be used as a foothold for the player character P1.By hitting a normal block NB from below, the player character P1 candestroy the normal block NB.

The appearance of an item block IB is same as a normal block NB, but isa block that has some kind of item (e.g., an item that allows the playercharacter P1 to be in an invincible state for a predetermined period oftime) hidden therein. An item hidden in the item block IB emerges whenthe player character P1 hits the item block IB from below.

In this game, while one or more players (main player(s)) are playing thegame by controlling respective player characters by using the respectivecontrollers 7, another player (sub player) can assist the main player(s)by generating various events in the game world by using the terminaldevice 6. In the following, an assisting operation by the sub playerthrough a use of the terminal device 6 will be specifically described.

FIG. 7 shows one example of a monitor game image displayed on themonitor 2 when a certain player (hereinafter, referred to as a player A)is playing the game by using a controller 7 a to control the playercharacter P1. The main player operates the controller 7 while viewingthe monitor game image displayed on the monitor 2.

FIG. 8 shows a terminal game image displayed on the LCD 61 of theterminal device 6 at the same time when the monitor game image in FIG. 7is displayed on the monitor 2. The sub player operates the terminaldevice 6 while viewing the terminal game image displayed on the LCD 61.

As it is obvious when FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are compared, a game image thatis substantially identical to the monitor game image viewed by the mainplayer is displayed on the LCD 61. More specifically, an image of thesame game world viewed from the same direction is displayed on themonitor game image and the terminal game image, and a display range ofthe game world displayed in the monitor game image and a display rangeof the game world displayed in the terminal game image are nearly thesame.

The difference between the monitor game image in FIG. 7 and the terminalgame image in FIG. 8 is that an item hidden in an item block IB is notdisplayed in the monitor game image whereas the item hidden in the itemblock IB is displayed in the terminal game image. As a result, the mainplayer does not know which item is hidden in which block until a blockis hit from below. However, the sub player knows in advance which itemis hidden in which block. In addition, an arrow HP indicating a hiddenpassage (a passage that cannot be viewed on the monitor game image) isdisplayed on the terminal game image.

By touching the touch panel 62 of the terminal device 6, the sub playercan generate various events at a position corresponding to the touchedposition in the game world. For example, when nothing exists at theposition in the game world corresponding to the touched position, a newnormal block NB can be placed at that position. In another embodiment, ablock that is different from a normal block NB may be placed.Furthermore, when the enemy character exists at the position in the gameworld corresponding to the touched position, the movement of the enemycharacter can be stopped. In addition, when a normal block NB exists atthe position in the game world corresponding to the touched position,that normal block NB can be destroyed.

For example, in order to allow the player character P1 to obtain an itemhidden in an item block IB, the sub player can place a new normal blockNB by touching a position below the item block IB where there are noother objects as shown in FIG. 9. When the sub player places a newnormal block NB in the game world, the normal block NB will also appearin the monitor game image viewed by the main player as shown in FIG. 10.As a result, the main player can use that normal block NB as a footholdand have the item hidden in the item block IB appear as shown in FIG.11.

FIG. 12 shows a monitor game image obtained when the player character P1has advanced slightly toward the goal point from the state in FIG. 11.As can be understood from the figure, the game world displayed in themonitor 2 has been scrolled as a result of the player character P1advancing toward the goal point. Furthermore, FIG. 13 shows a terminalgame image displayed on the LCD 61 of the terminal device 6 at the sametime point when the monitor game image in FIG. 12 is displayed on themonitor 2.

In FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 an enemy character E2 is approaching the playercharacter P1. Here, in order to assist the main player, the sub playertouches the enemy character E2 as shown in FIG. 13, and the movement ofthe enemy character E2 stops as shown in FIG. 14.

Instead of assisting the main player, the sub player can also obstructthe main player. For example, the sub player can obstruct the playercharacter P1 from escaping toward the left direction by placing a newnormal block NB at a position show in FIG. 15.

In such manner, in this game, the sub player can assist or obstruct theprogress of the game played by the main player, by touching a desiredposition in the game world displayed in the LCD 61 and generating apredetermined event at the touched position.

As shown in FIG. 7 to FIG. 15, although the display range of the gameworld displayed in the terminal game image and the display range of thegame world displayed in the monitor game image are basically identical,these display ranges can be shifted from the other.

For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the display range of the game worlddisplayed in the terminal game image may be set forward (i.e., in adirection toward the goal point) by a distance Pr from the display rangeof the game world displayed in the monitor game image. As a result,displayed on the LCD 61 is a range (as seen in FIG. 18) slightly infront of a range (as seen in FIG. 17) displayed on the monitor 2, andthe sub player can view the game world ahead of the main player andprovide assistance such as installing a normal block NB that can be usedas a foothold.

In the exemplary embodiment, by moving the terminal device 6 in theright or left direction, the sub player can change a relative position(i.e., the value of Pr shown in FIG. 16) of a display range of the gameworld displayed in the terminal game image with respect to a displayrange of the game world displayed in the monitor game image.Specifically, with respect to a display range of the game worlddisplayed in the monitor game image, when the terminal device 6 is movedrightward, the relative position of the display range of the game worlddisplayed in the terminal game image shifts in the rightward direction(i.e., the direction toward the goal point), and when the terminaldevice 6 is moved leftward, the relative position shifts in the leftwarddirection (i.e., the direction toward the starting point). The movementof the terminal device 6 can be detected by, for example, theacceleration sensor 603.

Next, detailed action of the game system to achieve the game will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 19 to FIG. 22.

FIG. 19 shows one example of various data stored in the external mainmemory 12 of the game apparatus body 5 when the game is executed.

A game program D1 is a program that causes the CPU 10 of the gameapparatus body 5 to execute a game process for achieving the game. Thegame program D1 is loaded, for example, from the optical disc 4 to theexternal main memory 12.

Game world information D2 is information that defines the game world.The game world information D2 includes, for example, informationregarding positions, attitudes, conditions, and the like of variousobjects (player characters, enemy characters, normal blocks, itemblocks, items, and the like) in the game world, information regardingimages and the like, and information regarding background images. In theexemplary embodiment, the game world is a two dimensional virtual space,and thereby positions of various objects in the game world arerepresented by, for example, two-dimensional coordinates of a worldcoordinate system shown in FIG. 6.

Controller operation data D3 is operation data that is periodicallytransmitted from the controller 7. When multiple main players are tosimultaneously play the game by using multiple controllers 7 among thecontrollers 7 a, 7 b, 7 c, and 7 d; controller operation data from themultiple controllers 7 are stored in the external main memory 12 so asto be distinguishable from each other.

Terminal operation data D4 is operation data that is periodicallytransmitted from the terminal device 6. As described above, the terminaloperation data D4 includes the touch position data, the accelerationdata, and the like.

Display range information D5 of the monitor game image is informationrepresenting a display range of a game world displayed in the monitorgame image. The display range information D5 of the monitor game imageis represented, for example, by an X coordinate value in the worldcoordinate system shown in FIG. 6.

Relative position information D6 is information representing a relativeposition of a display range of the game world displayed in the terminalgame image with respect to a display range of the game world displayedin the monitor game image. The relative position information D6 isrepresented, for example, by a value of Pr shown in FIG. 16.

Display range information D7 of the terminal game image is informationrepresenting a display range of the game world displayed in the terminalgame image. The display range information D7 of the terminal game imageis represented, for example, by an X coordinate value in the worldcoordinate system shown in FIG. 6.

Next, a flow of the game process executed by the CPU 10 of the gameapparatus body 5 based on the game program D1 will be described withreference to flowcharts in FIG. 20 to FIG. 22.

When execution of the game program D1 is initiated, first, at step S10in FIG. 20, the CPU 10 sets up initial settings. In the initialsettings, a process for setting a position of a player character to aninitial position, processes for setting; to initial values, the displayrange information D5 of the monitor game image, the relative positioninformation D6, and the display range information D7 of the terminalgame image, and the like are conducted.

At step S11, the CPU 10 acquires the terminal operation data D4 from theterminal device 6.

At step S12, the CPU 10 executes an event generating process. In thefollowing, details of the event generating process will be describedwith reference to the flowchart in FIG. 21.

When the event generating process is initiated, first, at step S20, theCPU 10 converts the touch position data included in the terminaloperation data D4 into world coordinates. The conversion is conductedbased on the display range information D7 of the terminal game image.With this, a position in the game world corresponding to a position onthe LCD 61 where the sub player has touched is determined.

At step S21, the CPU 10 compares the world coordinates obtained throughthe conversion at step S20 to position information of each objectincluded in the game world information D2, and determines whether thesub player has touched a position in the game world where there are noother objects (i.e., a position absent of various objects such as playercharacters, enemy characters, normal blocks, and the like). If it isdetermined that the sub player has touched a position in the game worldwhere there are no other objects, the process advances to step S22;otherwise, the process advances to step S23.

At step S22, the CPU 10 arranges a new normal block NB at the positionin the game world where the sub player has touched (i.e., the positionin the game world indicated by the world coordinates obtained throughthe conversion at step S20). Thus, information regarding the new normalblock NB is added to the game world information D2.

At step S23, the CPU 10 compares the world coordinates obtained throughthe conversion at step S20 to position information of each enemycharacter included in the game world information D2, and determineswhether any of the enemy characters has been touched. If it isdetermined that the sub player has touched any of the enemy characters,the process advances to step S24; otherwise, the process advances tostep S25.

At step S24, the CPU 10 stops an enemy character that has been touchedby the sub player. More specifically, the information representing thestate of the enemy object included in the game world information D2 ischanged from a normal state to a stopped state.

At step S25, the CPU 10 compares the world coordinates obtained throughthe conversion at step S20 to position information of each normal blockNB included in the game world information D2, and determines whether thesub player has touched any of the normal blocks NB. If it is determinedthat the sub player has touched any of the normal blocks NB, the processadvances to step S26; otherwise, the event generating process ends.

At step S26, the CPU 10 destroys a normal block NB that has been touchedby the sub player. More specifically, the information representing thenormal block NB included in the game world information D2 is deleted.Then the event generating process ends.

When the event generating process ends, the process advances to step S13in FIG. 20.

At step S13, the CPU 10 acquires the controller operation data D3 fromthe controller 7.

At step S14, the CPU 10 controls a player character based on thecontroller operation data D3. Specifically, information (position,attitude, state) regarding the player character included in the gameworld information D2 are changed based on the controller operation dataD3.

At step S15, the CPU 10 controls enemy characters etc., in accordancewith a predetermined algorithm. Specifically, information (position,attitude, state) regarding the enemy characters included in the gameworld information D2 are changed in accordance with the predeterminedalgorithm.

At step S16, the CPU 10 executes a display range update process. In thedisplay range update process, the display range of the game worlddisplayed in the monitor game image and the display range of the gameworld displayed in the terminal game image are each updated. In thefollowing, details of the display range update process will be describedwith reference to the flowchart in FIG. 22.

When the display range update process is initiated, first, at step S30,the CPU 10 updates the display range of the game world displayed in themonitor game image based on the current position of the playercharacter. More specifically, the display range information D5 of themonitor game image is updated based on position information of theplayer character included in the game world information D2. Whenmultiple player characters exist in the game world, the display rangeinformation D5 of the monitor game image is updated based on positioninformation of the multiple player characters.

At step S31, the CPU 10 determines whether the terminal device 6 hasmoved in the rightward direction based on the acceleration data includedin the terminal operation data D4. If the terminal device 6 isdetermined to have moved in the rightward direction, the processadvances to step S32; otherwise, the process advances to step S33.

At step S32, the CPU 10 shifts, to the rightward direction (i.e., thedirection toward the goal point), the relative position of the displayrange in the game world displayed in the terminal game image withrespect to the display range of the game world displayed in the monitorgame image. Specifically, a value of the relative position informationD6 is increased in accordance with an amount of movement of the terminaldevice 6 in the rightward direction. Then, the process advances to stepS35.

At step S33, the CPU 10 determines whether the terminal device 6 hasmoved in the leftward direction based on the acceleration data includedin the terminal operation data D4. Then, if the terminal device 6 isdetermined to have moved in the leftward direction, the process advancesto step S34; otherwise, the process advances to step S35.

At step S34, the CPU 10 shifts, to the leftward direction (i.e., thedirection toward the starting point), the relative position of thedisplay range in the game world displayed in the terminal game imagewith respect to the display range of the game world displayed in themonitor game image. Specifically, the value of the relative positioninformation D6 is reduced in accordance with the amount of movement ofthe terminal device 6 in the leftward direction. Then, the processadvances to step S35.

At step S35, the CPU 10 updates the display range of the terminal gameimage based on the relative position information D6 and the displayrange information D5 of the monitor game image (i.e., updates thedisplay range information D7 of the terminal game image). Then, thedisplay range update process ends.

When the display range update process ends, the process advances to stepS17 in FIG. 20.

At step S17, the CPU 10 generates a monitor game image based on thedisplay range information D5 of the monitor game image and the gameworld information D2. The generated monitor game image is outputted fromthe game apparatus body 5 to the monitor 2, and displayed on the monitor2. One portion or all of the processes for generating the monitor gameimage may be conducted on the GPU 32 in accordance with an instructionform the CPU 10.

At step S18, the CPU 10 generates a terminal game image based on thedisplay range information D7 of the terminal game image and the gameworld information D2. The generated terminal game image is outputtedfrom the game apparatus body 5 to the terminal device 6, and displayedon the LCD 61 of the terminal device 6. One portion or all of theprocesses for generating the terminal game image may be conducted on theGPU 32 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 10.

A specific object (e.g., the item block IB shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8)may have different display modes in the monitor game image generated atstep S17 and in the terminal game image generated at step S18.Furthermore, for example, menu icons Ia, Ib, and Ic for the sub playermay be displayed only on the terminal game image as shown in FIG. 23.

As described above, in the exemplary embodiment, the same game world isdisplayed on the monitor 2 viewed by the main player and on the LCD 61viewed by the sub player, and a predetermined event is generated at aposition in the game world instructed by the sub player using the touchpanel 62. Therefore, the sub player can assist and/or obstruct the mainplayer.

Furthermore, in the exemplary embodiment, since a screen (the monitor 2)viewed by the main player and a screen (the LCD 61) viewed by the subplayer are different, there is no need to display, on the monitor gameimage, a pointer or a cursor used by the sub player to point a desiredposition in the game world, and there is no need for the sub player totouch the monitor game image to point a desired position in the gameworld. Therefore, pointing a desired position in the game world by thesub player can be conducted without disturbing visibility of the monitorgame image.

Furthermore, in the exemplary embodiment, since pointing a desiredposition in the game world by the sub player is conducted by using thetouch panel 62, the desired position can be pointed simply and easily.

Furthermore, in the exemplary embodiment, since a substantiallyidentical game image is displayed on the screen (the monitor 2) viewedby the main player and on the screen (the LCD 61) viewed by the subplayer, the sub player and the main player can obtain a sensation ofplaying the same game together.

Furthermore, in the exemplary embodiment, since scrolling of theterminal game image is conducted automatically in accordance withscrolling of the monitor game image, there is no need for the sub playerto manually scroll the terminal game image so as to chase the playercharacter.

Furthermore, in the exemplary embodiment, since the sub player canchange the relative position of the display range of the game worlddisplayed in the terminal game image with respect to the display rangeof the game world displayed in the monitor game image, the sub playercan change the relative position as appropriate in order to allow easyoperation for himself/herself.

Furthermore, since the relative position can be changed by moving theterminal device 60, the sub player can simply and intuitively change therelative position.

Furthermore, in the exemplary embodiment, both images of the monitorgame image and the terminal game image are generated by the gameapparatus body 5 based on the identical game world information D2.Therefore, there is no possibility of any inconsistencies in the twogame images; unlike a case where the two game images are individuallygenerated in different information processing apparatuses, such as, forexample, when the monitor game image is generated by the game apparatusbody 5 and the terminal game image is generated by the terminal device6.

Furthermore, in the exemplary embodiment, since the sub player canassist and/or obstruct the main player by using the portable terminaldevice 6, the sub player can operate the terminal device 6 outside afield of view of the main player. Therefore, the sub player can surprisethe main player by generating an event in the game world without beinganticipated by the main player beforehand.

It is to be noted that the above described embodiment is merely oneexample.

For example, although the game world is a two dimensional virtual spacein the above described embodiment, the game world may be a threedimensional virtual space in another embodiment.

Furthermore, although the relative position of the display range of theterminal game image changes with respect to the display range of themonitor game image in accordance with a movement of the terminal device6 in the rightward or leftward direction in the above describedembodiment, in another embodiment, the relative position may change inaccordance with any movement (e.g., rotation, and the like) of theterminal device 6. Furthermore, in still another embodiment, therelative position may be changed by the operation button 64 provided onthe terminal device 6.

Furthermore, in the above described embodiment, although the multipleprocesses shown in FIG. 20 to FIG. 22 are executed on a single computer(the CPU 10), in another embodiment, these multiple processes may bedistributed and executed on multiple computers. Furthermore, in stillanother embodiment, one portion of these multiple processes may beachieved through hardware circuitry.

Furthermore, in the above described embodiment, although the multipleprocesses shown in FIG. 20 to FIG. 22 are executed on a singleinformation processing apparatus (the game apparatus body 5), in anotherembodiment, these multiple processes may be distributed and executed onmultiple information processing apparatuses (e.g., the game apparatusbody 5 and a server device).

Furthermore, in the above described embodiment, although the gameprogram D1 is provided to the game apparatus body 5 from the opticaldisc 4, in another embodiment, the game program D1 may be provided tothe game apparatus body 5 from any other computer readable storage media(e.g., CD-ROM, semiconductor memory, and the like). Furthermore, instill another embodiment, the game program D1 may be stored in advancein a nonvolatile memory (the ROM/RTC 13, the flash memory 17) inside thegame apparatus body 5. Furthermore, in still another embodiment, thegame program D1 may be transmitted to the game apparatus body 5 fromanother information processing apparatus (game apparatus, serverdevice).

The systems, devices and apparatuses described herein may include one ormore processors, which may be located in one place or distributed in avariety of places communicating via one or more networks. Suchprocessor(s) can, for example, use conventional 3D graphicstransformations, virtual camera and other techniques to provideappropriate images for display. By way of example and withoutlimitation, the processors can be any of: a processor that is part of oris a separate component co-located with the stationary display and whichcommunicates remotely (e.g., wirelessly) with the movable display; or aprocessor that is part of or is a separate component co-located with themovable display and communicates remotely (e.g., wirelessly) with thestationary display or associated equipment; or a distributed processingarrangement some of which is contained within the movable displayhousing and some of which is co-located with the stationary display, thedistributed portions communicating together via a connection such as awireless or wired network; or a processor(s) located remotely (e.g., inthe cloud) from both the stationary and movable displays andcommunicating with each of them via one or more network connections; orany combination or variation of the above.

The processors can be implemented using one or more general-purposeprocessors, one or more specialized graphics processors, or combinationsof these. These may be supplemented by specifically-designed ASICs(application specific integrated circuits) and/or logic circuitry. Inthe case of a distributed processor architecture or arrangement,appropriate data exchange and transmission protocols are used to providelow latency and maintain interactivity, as will be understood by thoseskilled in the art.

Similarly, program instructions, data and other information forimplementing the systems and methods described herein may be stored inone or more on-board and/or removable memory devices. Multiple memorydevices may be part of the same device or different devices, which areco-located or remotely located with respect to each other.

While certain exemplary embodiments has been described in detail, theforegoing description is in all aspects illustrative and notrestrictive. It will be understood that numerous other modifications andvariations can be devised.

1. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a gameprogram executed by a computer of a game apparatus for conducting a gameprocess in accordance with an input from a portable display deviceincluding a touch panel and an input from at least one input device, thecomputer being caused to function as: a first input reception sectionconfigured to receive an input from the touch panel, a second inputreception section configured to receive an input from the at least oneinput device; a game processing section configured to conduct apredetermined game process based on an input received by the first inputreception section from the touch panel and an input received by thesecond input reception section from the at least one input device; animage generation section configured to generate a first game image and asecond game image of an identical game world in accordance with a gameprocess result obtained by the game processing section; a first displaycontrol section configured to output, to the portable display device,the first game image generated by the image generation section; and asecond display control section configured to output, to a display devicethat is different from the portable display device, the second gameimage generated by the image generation section, wherein the gameprocessing section generates a predetermined event at a position in thegame world corresponding to a position on the second game imageinstructed through the touch panel.
 2. The computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined event includes anevent that assists progress of the game conducted based on an input fromthe at least one input device.
 3. The computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 1, wherein the predetermined event includes an eventthat obstructs progress of the game conducted based on an input from theat least one input device.
 4. The computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 1, wherein the game processing section moves apredetermined object within the game world based on an input from the atleast one input device.
 5. The computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 4, wherein the game world is absent of any objectsthat are moved based on an input from the portable display device. 6.The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 4, wherein thegame progressed by the game process is a game whose objective isachievable without an input from the portable display device.
 7. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 4, wherein an inputfrom the at least one input device has direct influence on an outcome ofthe game progressed by the game process, and an input from the portabledisplay device lacks any direct influence on the outcome of the gameprogressed by the game process.
 8. The computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 1, wherein the first game image and the second gameimage are substantially identical game images.
 9. The computer-readablestorage medium according to claim 8, wherein display modes of a specificobject in the game world are different in the first game image and thesecond game image.
 10. The computer-readable storage medium according toclaim 9, wherein a display mode of the specific object in the first gameimage is a display mode that is more advantageous for a player than adisplay mode of the specific object in the second game image.
 11. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the firstgame image and the second game image are game images showing anidentical range of the identical game world.
 12. The computer-readablestorage medium according to claim 1, wherein the first game image andthe second game image are game images of the game world viewed from anidentical direction.
 13. The computer-readable storage medium accordingto claim 1, wherein the image generation section generates the secondgame image so as to scroll in accordance with scrolling of the firstgame image.
 14. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim1, wherein the first display control section outputs the first gameimage to the portable display device through wireless transmission. 15.The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein thefirst display control section compresses and outputs the first gameimage to the portable display device.
 16. The computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 1, wherein an input section that is differentfrom the touch panel is provided on the portable display device, and inaddition to an input from the touch panel, the first input receptionsection receives an input also from the input section.
 17. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein a thecomputer is caused to further function as displacement amountdetermination section configured to determine an amount of displacementbased on a signal from the portable display device, and the imagegeneration section changes, in accordance with the amount ofdisplacement determined by the displacement amount determinationsection, a relative position of a range of the game world displayed inthe first game image with respect to a range of the game world displayedin the second game image.
 18. The computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 17, wherein the displacement amount determinationsection detects a movement of the portable display device based on asignal from the portable display device, and determines the amount ofdisplacement in accordance with the movement of the portable displaydevice.
 19. A game apparatus for conducting a game process in accordancewith an input from a portable display device including a touch panel andan input from at least one input device, the game apparatus comprising:a first input reception section configured to receive an input from thetouch panel, a second input reception section configured to receive aninput from the at least one input device; a game processing sectionconfigured to conduct a predetermined game process based on an inputreceived by the first input reception section from the touch panel andan input received by the second input reception section from the atleast one input device; an image generation section configured togenerate a first game image and a second game image of an identical gameworld in accordance with a game process result obtained by the gameprocessing section; a first display control section configured tooutput, to the portable display device, the first game image generatedby the image generation section; and a second display control sectionconfigured to output, to a display device that is different from theportable display device, the second game image generated by the imagegeneration section, wherein the game processing section generates apredetermined event at a position in the game world corresponding to aposition on the second game image instructed through the touch panel.20. A game system for conducting a game process in accordance with aninput from a portable display device including a touch panel and aninput from at least one input device, the game system comprising: afirst input reception section configured to receive an input from thetouch panel, a second input reception section configured to receive aninput from the at least one input device; a game process sectionconfigured to conduct a predetermined game process based on an inputreceived by the first input reception section from the touch panel andan input received by the second input reception section from the atleast one input device; an image generation section configured togenerate a first game image and a second game image of an identical gameworld in accordance with a game process result obtained by the gameprocessing section; a first display control section configured tooutput, to the portable display device, the first game image generatedby the image generation section; and a second display control sectionconfigured to output, to a display device that is different from theportable display device, the second game image generated by the imagegeneration section, wherein the game processing section generates apredetermined event at a position in the game world corresponding to aposition on the second game image instructed through the touch panel.21. A game processing method for conducting a game process in accordancewith an input from a portable display device including a touch panel andan input from at least one input device, the method comprising:receiving an input from the touch panel; receiving an input from the atleast one input device; conducting a predetermined game process based onthe input received from the touch panel and the input received from theat least one input device; generating a first game image and a secondgame image of an identical game world in accordance with a game processresult; outputting, to the portable display device, the generated firstgame image; and outputting, to a display device that is different fromthe portable display device, the generated second game image, wherein inthe game process, a predetermined event is generated at a position inthe game world corresponding to a position on the second game imageinstructed through the touch panel.